The name Rus', used in Byzantine texts to refer to the early Russians, is a direct reflection of their self-definement. The participation and the influence of Rus’ in the political and economical issues of the Black Sea area, which happened around the same time as the consolidation and ascendance of the Kiev’s hegemony, lasted from the 9th century until the beginning of the 13th, at which point the expansion of the Mongols led to the fall of Kiev’s hegemony and the submission of the Russian people to the Mongolian authority.